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Islam Makhachev's first defense of his lightweight title will take place in the early hours of Saturday morning against featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. This means that both titles and the honor of ing the small club of champions in two divisions simultaneously are at stake at UFC 284 for the Australian.
As historic as this is, it is the first time the top two in the UFC's pound-for-pound rankings have faced each other since the rankings came into existence. In the days of Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell, for example, it might have happened, but that's not the way things were done. Now, the victories of the two contenders and the losses of Usman and Adesanya have led to this novel situation in the UFC.
The odds are on the Russian to win. Khabib Nurmagomedov's protege has the advantage of his wingspan and the fact that he will be fighting at his usual weight. Islam will try to impose his physical style on the UFC's pound-for-pound king, who is eager to prove doubters wrong.
The Australian has always performed well under pressure and is fighting on home soil, but Makhachev's win over Oliveira, showing no flaw in any aspect of the fight and forcing a submission with utmost mastery, has the big crowd more confident in the lightweight champion.
UFC's two-weight champions
Conor McGregor (featherweight and lightweight) was the first champion to hold titles in two divisions simultaneously. 'The Notorious' began his featherweight reign by knocking out Jose Aldo in 13 seconds at UFC 194. Almost a year later, in 2016, he defeated Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight belt.
Daniel Cormier (light heavyweight and heavyweight) was the next to the list. Before vacating the light-heavyweight title, DC defeated Stipe Miocic to win the heavyweight title.
Amanda Nunes is the most notable. In 2016 she was crowned bantamweight champion and had top-level defenses. In 2018, she took out Cris Cyborg in the first round to become the women's featherweight champion as well. Reigning at this weight, she beat Julianna Pena in 2022, in a rematch, to become a champion-champion for the second time and also linking weight classes.
American Henry Cejudo is also in this select group. Like Nunes, he is a former Olympic champion in wrestling. He claimed the flyweight reign after defeating Demetrious Johnson the second time they met. Before vacating the title, he went for the bantamweight title held by Marlon Moraes, whom he knocked out.